Nuri Rocket's Fifth Launch Puts Hanwha Aerospace in the Pilot's Seat
South Korea's Nuri rocket lifted off from Goheung carrying a record 15 satellites, with Hanwha Aerospace taking full operational command of the launch for the first time, a shift that marks Korea's space program leaning further on private industry.
South Korea's homegrown Nuri rocket lifted off from Goheung in the country's southwest at 12:25 p.m. local time, carrying a record 15 satellites in the vehicle's fifth launch and the country's first liftoff of 2026.
The rocket reached its target orbit in about 12 minutes and 41 seconds, successfully deploying all but one of the 15 satellites on board, a payload that included five microsatellites from the New-space Earth Observation Satellite Constellation for National Safety program, known as NEONSAT, and 10 CubeSats.
Hanwha Takes the Controls
The launch marked the first time a private company held full end-to-end operational command of a Nuri launch. Hanwha Aerospace, which builds the rocket, had served as assembly lead on the previous flight, but this time the company's staff operated 20 of the mission's 22 launch control consoles, a level of authority over the launch process that no private firm had held before. The Korea Aerospace Research Institute, which has run the program since its inception, supervised the launch rather than directly controlling it.
What the Shift Signals
The expanded role for Hanwha Aerospace reflects a broader push to move Korea's space program further into private industry's hands, following a pattern familiar from other national space efforts where state research institutes hand off increasing operational responsibility to commercial contractors once a launch vehicle has proven itself reliable. With four previous Nuri flights behind it, including the satellite deployment that preceded this launch, the rocket has reached the stage where its builder is now also flying it.
